Hazy, Hot & Humid

I think I had to have sweated off something like 10lbs this morning walking Smokey the spastic lab in this heat. If only I could lose fat & excess body weight so easily... having it just ooze out my pores along with some sweat??? That's what I like to imagine anyway.

As usual this week has been full of doggie antics. I heard some weird rustling noises coming from the family room whilst I was happily working away in the sewing room... then I heard a lot of body slamming on our old floors which causes the house to reverberate in places. And so I thought I'd better go investigate....

Found Smokey whipping back & forth my daughter's feather pillow. The one I'd just recently COVERED WITH THAT NEW SHAM with flying geese!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess he was having quite the fun with it. Feathers were flying hither &  yon, but I only saw red at first when I thought he'd ripped open the newly made sham... the one that sat on my to-do pile for 3 years & finally got attention & had been finished & washed & looked gorgeous!! 

I calmed down upon investigation when I realized he hadn't in fact ruined the sham -just ripped open the pillow near a seam & so the feathers escaped. WHEW!!

And then I thought to grab my camera :) He does look a little sorry, doesn't he?

He REALLY looks sorry in this one! lol I just can't stay mad at him for long. He's really just a big, hairy baby.

Other news... I finished this 7" felted wool Snowman Candle Mat. I've added it to my etsy shop, but if it doesn't sell, IT'S MINE!! Though as much as I enjoyed stitching it up, I really could just make another, eh?

This is the first time I've worked with felted wool & I really liked it! I love that the hand-stitching gets "sucked into" the felt in such a way that not only hides the stitching for the most part but also adds texture. 

I do believe I'll be on the prowl for felted wool at the Hershey Quilt Show later this month! Along with thread for the longarm, novelty fabrics & an applique project to teach this fall. My list of things to look for at this show is growing exponentially!! 

And last, I thought I'd share what's been on the machine this week:

I'll show an "after" picture once the quilt has been delivered back to the shop. 

Sure hope you're all finding fun ways to beat this heat!!

Take care :)

My Etsy Shop is Open!

After YEARS of talking about doing it, I've finally set up shop on etsy! 

I'm just getting started, so there are just about a dozen items listed. It'll be interesting to see how I like it? I often look at projects & think, "Ooohh that's lovely eye candy, but WHAT WOULD I DO WITH IT?????" 

Sometimes I just want to make something for the pure fun of it, the art of it, but then my practical side kicks in telling me if it's not useful & pertinent to my life then I should move on & save my money. 

Sooo now I have AN EXCUSE to make things... sooo I'll need to have fabric & whatnot to make those things... soooo I might just have an excuse to purchase some SUPPLIES while at the Hershey Quilt Show  coming up later this month! 

WOOT! Do you think I might be able to translate this into "I need a working budget for my longarm & etsy businesses" to my hubby?? (heehee this here mind is allllways thinkin')

I do hope you'll pop in to visit me at etsy & give me your feedback. Since I'm just getting started, I'd love help shortening my learning curve. Though it seems fairly straight-forward, I'm hoping I didn't forget to do/say something important!

Okay, onto some show & tell...

I finished this quilt a couple weeks ago, but since I had to deliver it back to Stitch & Craft, I've allowed a bit of a delay, never wanting someone to see their quilt posted here before seeing it for themselves!! That just seems rude!!

I wish you all a good day! We've been blessed with a gorgeous, sunny day here in Lancaster, PA.

We have 6 & 1/2 weeks of summer left. Exactly half our summer is over! How 'bout instead we just say WE STILL HAVE 6 WEEKS OF SUMMER LEFT! 

(How's that for looking at our lemonade glass as half full??)

4rth of July Weekend

Got lots done & had some fun over the long weekend:

Every summer I take off the books, wipe down the shelves, weed out the unwanted & reorganize all the books. Though it's a long process, I secretly love having time to fondle all these books 

(it really does rival fabric fondling for me!!)

This is the "before", which isn't too bad, but you can see on those right hand side shelves there are a bunch of books just shoved in wherever they'll fit at the moment.

 Below is the "after"... you may notice not only the neatness of those shelves but also all those holes left 

FOR MORE BOOKS!!!! Wahoooooooo!! 

Excluding the top two shelves, everything on the left is spiritual/non-fiction/reference for homeschooling, and the shelves on the right house fiction alphabetical by author as well as some movies & photo albums.

After I got some work done, I got to do some quilting. These pillow shams match & were made for my 14 year old daughter's quilt. Back in 2008 I made a large queen-sized version of this flying geese pattern, sewed the shams at the same time, but just never got back to quilting & finishing them.

I think it's easier on these to see the quilting from the back

(before sham construction)

(after sham construction)

And to round out the weekend-- some good family fun..

The four of us went kayaking on the Susquehanna River, starting at Duncannon & paddling back down to Marysville.

This was my first time kayaking, and while I'd boated on the river back when I was a kid, and we've taken the kids out to play on the river's edge, this time around it seemed so big & ominous! 

Maegan & I were in a tandem kayak together, with Marshall & Morgan riding in another one.

And at the end of a full 3 hours of paddling, I'll admit my arms felt a little like jello, my butt was soaked from some Class 2 rapids, and I came away with some nicely burnt skin, but I'd had fun & learned how to do something new :)

Afterwards, we stopped at Rita's for some Gelati, then headed home for some backyard swimming, ladder golf, and food cooked on the BBQ!

I hope you all had some fun with your long weekends & made some memories!